Finalists for Lawrence’s director of arts and culture will meet the public April 1

Four finalists for Lawrence’s director of arts and culture will meet the public during a reception April 1, Lawrence city officials announced Tuesday.

The director’s duties will include leading the development of a city-wide cultural plan; working with various grants, including one for the Ninth Street corridor project; administering the programs of the Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission; and working to enliven Lawrence’s creative sector, the release said.

The four finalists are:

  • Porter Arneill, director and public art administrator for the Kansas City Municipal Art Commission. He has worked as the director of public art and education for the Regional Arts Commission in St. Louis, Mo, and as a lecturer/adjunct faculty member at several institutions, including the Kansas City Art Institute. He lives in Kansas City, Mo.
  • Christine Bial, director of grant making and curator of performing arts for the Mid-America Arts Alliance in Kansas City, Mo. She has worked as the program manager for Community and Artist Partnerships for the Kansas Arts Commission in Topeka and in non-profit theater management. She lives in Lawrence.
  • Josh Powers, state public transportation manager for the Kansas Department of Transportation. He previously worked in public relations and communications for KDOT, served as the communications coordinator for the Mid-America Arts Alliance, and owned an art gallery in Kansas City. He lives in Lawrence.
  • Robb Wasielewski, formerly the executive/turnaround director for several arts agencies including a regional arts council in Washington State and a municipally funded museum in Alabama. He has served as a school operations director for KIPP Charter Schools in San Antonio, Texas, worked as director of marketing for the San Antonio Museum of Art and served as a cultural tourism liaison for the city of San Antonio. He lives in Yakima, Wash.

The reception will begin at 7 p.m. in the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire St., the release said. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

Last year, the city hired its first director of arts and culture, Christina McClelland, who resigned after three months on the job. According to the city, McClelland said that due to limited job opportunities for her husband in the area, she would be rejoining him in Denver.